Leadership of the Life of Jesus Christ in the Light of Nowadays - Essay Example

Leadership As Practiced in the Life of Jesus Christ in the Light of 21st Century Context of Institute Introduction Leadership is the way in which a person motivates, inspires and leads other people to accomplish what he/she could not accomplish as an individual. Modern church leadership seeks to found its base on Jesus’ form of leadership as demonstrated by his relationship with his disciples. All through his Ministry, Jesus had a leadership style that could be used to model leadership in the modern church (Maxwell, 2005, p. 142). This paper seeks to analyze the mentorship and servant leadership model in the modern church in relation to what Jesus established in his life. The paper will touch on Jesus’ ministry and its application in modern church leadership. The analysis will draw its facts mainly from the Gospels. Leadership As Practiced in the Life of Jesus Christ in the Light of 21st Century Context From the start of his ministry, Jesus set out to mentor leaders that would lead the early church. He selected twelve disciples with different skills, talents, passions and personalities and mentored them to become a team. He taught them to use their varied strengths in order to support each other in the ministry. Christ shaped a leadership structure with a leader who had others supporting him. By the time he ascended to Heaven, he had built a leadership structure comprising Peter as the Head and the other disciples supporting him in a united team that worked together. This team of early church leaders had a unity of purpose to spread the Gospel to all nations. They went out preaching and in their deeds complimented each other’s works. From this early structure, the modern church can draw lessons on how to structure its leadership to attain better results in ministering the Gospel. Leadership in the Traditional and Contemporary Church Traditionally, the church used the hierarchy model of leadership. However, with the growth of the church, there have been changes that have necessitated a shift to an empowered team model of leadership. Many leaders have found they overwhelmed and overworked under the hierarchy model. With the empowered team model, the problem is solved as the leaders work with others in a team. This model emphasizes mentorship of new leaders and the development of a team spirit among the leaders to enhance good working relations to boost delivery of the vision of the church. Empowerment means that leaders drop bureaucratic structures so that people develop a sense of ownership and belonging in the leadership process. It enables them put into use their skills, experiences, energies and ambitions. Active participation by the different members of the team will make them accept the responsibilities that come with the leadership (Maxwell, 2005, p. 160). A commitment in building a team-ministry in the church requires that the leaders invest in the lives of those around them and empower them to operate and function effectively with their strengths, gifts and passion just as Jesus did to his disciples (Damazio, 2012, p. 281). The biggest challenge to leaders involves striving for the common commitment and high expectations found in Jesus’ empowerment strategy for the church found in the New Testament. It therefore becomes necessary to have some principles to guide church leaders on team building and mentoring (Damazio, 2012, p. 282). These principles may include but not limited to committing leaders to the mission, vision and values of the church, shifting the leadership focus and investing in leadership development (Maxwell, 2005, p. 152). Before a church can develop an empowered team of leaders, it needs to first foster a sense of commitment among the leaders. The leaders also need to have an understanding of what the church stands for in terms of values, vision and mission. This will create a greater sense of involvement and ownership that is from within the leaders. Each leader needs to have an understanding of the beliefs of the church regarding the Biblical mission and set ministry values as well as the vision of the church. Lack of commitment to the mission, vision and values of the church would hamper the development of an empowerment form of leadership. Leadership focus can shift to adopt a team leadership model. However, this requires the leader to change his leadership style, as he will have to delegate some of his duties and responsibilities. The leader will seek to inspire and influence other leaders and those with potential to lead in the church. In mentoring other leaders, the leader is investing in them in the hope that in the end, they will be able to deliver leadership to the church in the way Jesus modelled leadership with his disciples. Leaders can carry out mentorship by use of truth from the scriptures regarding team ministry, training church members to understand and appreciate the contributions of each other and coaching members by providing skill development and guidance (Michels, 2012, p. 21). Leadership development involves building leaders who also in turn will build other leaders and thus expand the scope of personal impact. Church leaders are required to provide training opportunities to affect the lives of the people around them. This will influence the habits and values of the church leaders within the Ministry team. This may define the relationships among all team members working for the church. The mentorship process starts with the calling of the leader, and then analyses the character of the leader, his competence and the commission of a spiritual leader. Jesus himself called his disciples to him and the faith they had made them follow him. They then committed themselves to him and followed him everywhere as he taught and performed miracles. This way, they learnt what his Ministry was involved. Jesus showed that anyone could become a leader by choosing Matthew, who was a tax collector, as one of his disciples. After getting the number of disciples he needs, Jesus starts training them on leadership and the roles they would play in his plan. His interaction with the twelve disciples also serves to remind us that mentorship may not always be successful. Some leaders may turn out to be a problem and so the church should be prepared for such eventualities. The case of Judas serves well to demonstrate this as he betrays Jesus. Just as Jesus modelled his disciples for servant leadership, the early church leaders also encouraged this kind of leadership among their followers. Paul is a good example as he follows Jesus’ example to train servant leaders. He says, ‘Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 2:3-5) Goals of Mentoring: Who and How The main goal of mentoring is to shape a new leader into a useful and productive leader who can also be a mentor to others. It begins with teaching the foundational truths which can be built upon with lessons and experiences from daily interactions. The mentors must teach the new leaders that they must also be mentors, or else the work stops with their generation. In a bid to change leadership styles, the modern church leaders may face some challenges. One of the biggest challenges could be resistance to change. This may be due to people being too comfortable in the existing status quo. Some people may deem the changes unnecessary. For leaders to be successful in making changes, they have to come up with a method of change management that will ensure seamless change from one leadership model to another (McEvoy, 2010, p. 420). Some important tools in change management could include listening, explaining, valuing criticism, recognizing possible disadvantages of the proposed changes and courtesy. Listening to what people say about the subject being discussed is very important as it makes them feel appreciated as they know that their opinions are heard and considered. When one feels that the leaders have considered their opinions, it becomes easier to convince them to accept the change. This way, leaders can effect changes easily as the people will feel that they were involved in the change. Most of the time, not everyone will understand the importance of the change being implemented. It therefore becomes necessary for leaders to explain repeatedly about the changes and the reasons behind the decision to make the changes. Assuming that people understand the plans, the first time would not be a wise move as those that do not understand may resist the change. Most people look at criticism with a negative perspective. They take criticism as personal attacks by others. However, leaders in the church should learn to take criticism positively as it helps correct weaknesses in the leadership system. Criticism may serve to identify problems that the leaders may have previously overlooked. By welcoming and valuing criticism, leaders encourage people to contribute to the development on new changes, as they will be able to point out any flaws in the plans. This helps them accept the changes, as they have been involved in the process. Probable Challenges in Church Leadership Reformation: Visionary Leadership Every system has its own shortcomings and disadvantages. Recognizing and accepting the disadvantages of the proposed changes thus becomes critical in convincing people to accept the changes. By acknowledging the possible flaws of the changes, leaders will be preparing people for any outcome of the changes. When coming up with a change, leaders should avoid being personally attached as this may affect their objectivity. This may lead them to rushing the change and disregarding opinions of other people. Leaders may skip established consultation channels and this will be a source of problems in the future. Leaders should be courteous enough to involve those that need be involved in the process without disregarding their opinions. Another important aspect of church leadership is developing and communicating the church vision. Vision is one thing that attracts people to a church. A vision seeks to guide leaders on the path to follow as they lead people. However, most people never know or understand the vision of their church. This is quite unfortunate as they fail to know where they want the church to be in the future. It therefore becomes very important for leaders to communicate the vision and ensure everyone in the church understands it (Hughes, 2002, p. 176). To communicate the church vision effectively, the leaders need to divide the congregation into groups and take time explaining it to each group at a time. One group has to understand the vision before the leaders engage the next group. Once the one group gets the vision, the leaders engage the next group but with the first group also present. Each meeting with each group builds on the previous meetings as those from previous groups also attend. This way, the church achieves a deeper understanding of the vision among its members. Another way to communicate the vision to the members is to make it a part of the sermons, classes, bulletins, home gatherings, newsletters, and casual conversations with the church. This way, the members will constantly be remember the vision and will continue to understand it. The church leadership should also be prepared for opposition. This can be both internal and external. Just as Jesus faced a lot of opposition during his ministry, church leaders are also bound to face opposition. They therefore need to be able to face the opposition and overcome it in order to continue with their ministry. Jesus always found ways of dealing with opposition, which in most cases came from the Pharisees and Sadducees. In most cases, Jesus had an answer to each question and accusation they made against him. He also quoted the scriptures in his responses to the Pharisees. Modern church leaders can borrow a leaf from Jesus by channelling their energy on trying to reason with the opposition rather than engage in argument with them. Rather than channel anger to the opposition, leaders should learn to channel passion to the service of others. This way, they might be able to defeat or even appeal to the opposition thus winning them over (Bruce, 1971, p. 45). Conclusion It is observable that Jesus set a good example for church leaders to follow. Rather than do all the work alone, he chosen disciples who he trained and mentored to help him in his Ministry. He was also able to overcome opposition without getting into unnecessary arguments. He taught humility and service to people rather than fight for popularity with the scribes and teachers of the Law. In all the many changes that are occurring in modern times, church leaders should draw their examples from the life of Jesus (Hoag et al., 2015, p. 1). They should lead in the manner in which Jesus set up. They should also constantly pray for guidance as Jesus himself taught his disciples to be prayerful. With prayers, they will be able to lead the church in conformity with Jesus’ model of servant leadership. Bibliography Books Bruce, B., 1971. The Training of the Twelve. Grand Rapids: Kernel Publications. Damazio, F., 2012. Making of a Leader. Portland: City Christian Publishing. Hughes, B., 2002. Leadership Tool Kit. Eastbourne: Kingsway Publications. Maxwell, C.J., 2005. Developing the Leader Within You. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. Journals Francis, L., Robbins, M., & Ryland., A 2012, Called for Leadership: Psychological Type Profile of Leaders Within the Newfrontiers Network of Churches in the United Kingdom, Journal of Psychology & Theology, 40, 3, pp. 220-228. McEvoy, K., 2010, Moments of Grace: The Heart of Leadership, Australasian Catholic Record, The, 87, 4, p. 420, Informit Humanities & Social Sciences Collection. Michels, D.H. 2012, Seeking Gods Will: The Experience of Information Seeking by Leaders of a Church in Transition, Canadian Journal of Information & Library Sciences, 36, 1/2, pp. 16-27. Internet Source Hoag, G.G., Rodin, R.S., & Willmer, W.K., 2014. Kingdom Outcomes are the Byproduct of Obedience to the Holy Spirit. Retrieved April 18, 2014 from blog.christianleadershipalliance.org/2014/04/11/3-core-characteristics-of-kingdom- outcomes/ NB: Number of Words Used in the Body= 2,178 words Read More